A digital companion to the biography Becoming Richard Pryor
A review of Richard Pryor’s first performance onstage, in Juliette Whittaker’s adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin at the Carver Center.
The review concentrates on the professionalism of Whittaker’s endeavor: this was children’s theater raised to the level of art, with touches of Grand Guignol. Pryor’s performance as the King — modeled, according to Pryor’s memoir, after his sweet-talking Uncle Dickie — went unmentioned.
Sidney Baldwin, “In My Opinion: Children’s Theater of Carver Center,” Peoria Journal Star, Mar. 15, 1955, p. A10.
The “Glow Girls” performed on a double bill with Richard on the gym steps at Blaine Sumner school in 1953.
A review of “Rumpelstiltskin,” Richard's first stage appearance.
Juliette Whittaker encouraged Pryor to “move into every and any stage he could find.”
On the occasion of Richard's first film role, the Peoria Journal Star joined a conversation with his father
A benefit for the local Afro-American Black Peoples Federation brought Richard Pryor back to the Carver Center stage
Sixth-grade teacher Mrs. Yingst offered a stage of sorts to the young Richard
Margaret Kelch witnessed Richard's struggles at school
A portrait of the young Richard, courtesy of his childhood friend Matt Clark
Shakespeare's classic re-imagined by Whittaker in an original Carver Center Youth Theater production
Celebrating ten successful years, the Carver Center released a report on its progress.
A review of “Rumpelstiltskin,” Richard's first stage appearance.
A closer look at the Carver Center's resident playwright, director, stage manager, and set designer
Juliette Whittaker encouraged Pryor to “move into every and any stage he could find.”
An in-depth profile of the remarkable woman who first mentored Richard Pryor as an artist
“The artist part of me has always chosen a storytelling style,” explained Whittaker
At her funeral service in the Carver Community Center, Whittaker's gift for nurturing talent was fondly recalled
Juliette Whittaker was “my angel,” wrote Richard's childhood friend Matt Clark
For its founders, the Carver Center promised to inaugurate “the postwar of tomorrow”
“We must help each other” was the theme of the Carver Center's mural, “The Pursuit of Freedom”
Shakespeare's classic re-imagined by Whittaker in an original Carver Center Youth Theater production
The Carver Center was thriving in 1952 — and would-be juvenile delinquent “Bob” was proof
Celebrating ten successful years, the Carver Center released a report on its progress.
Modern dance and checkers, jazz and basketball — all were on tap at the Carver Center
A review of “Rumpelstiltskin,” Richard's first stage appearance.
Pryor's time onstage at Carver was the era of its greatest expansion
A closer look at the Carver Center's resident playwright, director, stage manager, and set designer
The 1957 Center curriculum ranged from baton-twirling and canasta to scenery building and choir
Reportage on the Carver Center, from the point of view of a suburban high schooler